do these work? i was thinking of using one of these on my 350 rebuild. daily driver 300-350hp. so far my bores seem fine just smooth, i haven't seen any ridges yet. so could i slap one of these on a drill and hone it for new rings? my 350 has a low cylinder smoked some. could i fix it with one of these?:confused:

Dingleberry hones do work, but it is in your best interest to invest in a bore mic to double check cylinder bore first. A mic that measures to .0001 is your best bet, but one that measures to .0005 will get you close. Just because your bore are smooth does not mean that your cylinders are round or in tolerance. Consult a Chiltons on similar manual to find cylinder tolerances.Your bores could be within .0001 of being out of tolerance, and by the time you hone, could be .0002-.0003 out of tolerance. Piston type can also help determine cylinder size. Hyperutectic pistons require close tolerances. Cast, forged, and used pistons will also require different tolerances. When I have a block bored, I have the machinist bore .002 undersized, and bring the pistons that I will be using to him to measure and hone each cylinder to size to ensure tight tolerances. If you are in the ballpark, I use ATF as a honing oil, seems to keep hone cleaner. In general, it is a matter of personal preference. I would not use on something that you expect to have high HP, but in the past, I have used one on engines that probably should have been bored, and have seen them run 75000 miles without problems. I'm sure others will chime in. Good Luck!!

I've had excellent results with these things over the years. At the time I bought mine off a Snap-On truck 320 was the finest grit available. I've about worn it out over the years. Works great with moly rings. But, it won't fix a cylinder that tapered or out of round or has damage form broken rings. I'd take the the block to a shop that can measure the suspect cylinder unless you know the rings were on upside down on that piston or something. There had to have been a reason that cylinder was hosed. IOW, what Jason said. :)

well i do know that this 350 was a rering job when i got the car. haha and ive also heard and pretty sure that the 350 that i have has never been rebuild, and its a 69 350!!!!!!

I ball honed a 350 years ago and used cast rings. never had a problem with it and it had over 20k miles on it when I got rid of the truck.

Kinda a funny name to call it:yes:
Well I guess it looks fits the name:D

He, He!!

That's what I've ALWAYS called it!!

Now, please feel free to ASK me why I call it a "dingle-berry" hone!!

He, He!!

pdq67

Paul, really don't need anybody egging this on. Got it?

Tom,

I PM'd w/ why I call them that name just for his enlightenment and b/c you don't want this to go on..

pdq67

Dingleberry hone is a slang term for a ball hone.

Over the years I have used them.

http://www.manufacturingcenter.com/man/articles/0906/0906true_girt.asp

http://www.mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts312.htm

Call it the glaze breaker and be done.

Used one on my last 350, honed it, threw a set of cast rings & bearings, ran fine! Loved the 'klingon' hone :D

Now, you can take this with a grain of salt; learned these tips from an old shadetree mechanic:

One quick way to check for cylinder taper is to tap a ring down the bore, and measure the end gap at several different depths in the bore-it should remain constant. I used the piston to locate the ring in the bore-helped keep it square.

Thanks to Don for pointing that out. They really are glaze breaker, you're not going to actually remove any measurable material with one. Sure do a nice job of it though.

Sid, thanks to you also. It's been a long time since I've seen that deal in print anywhere. If anybody tries this keep in mind that .001 taper means the diameter is .001 greater which means the circumference grows by about .003. so, the max allowable taper being .007 would generate like .021 end gap growth. I'm sure nobody here ever builds an engine with .007 taper, right? :)

He, He!!

I have!!

pdq67